Car Accident

Published on: September 30, 2024

Leesfield & Partners Attorneys Secure Confidential Settlement in case of mother and 5-year-old injured after a car crashed through Discount Store

Leesfield & Partners attorneys recently secured a confidential settlement for a woman and her 5-year-old son after a car drove into the Florida discount store where they waited at the checkout line.

While the mother and son were waiting with other customers to pay for their items, a car came crashing through the store. The mother was able to pull her child out of the way but not before the crash tore through his right ankle, causing severe lacerations to an artery and tendons that required several invasive surgeries. As a result of the incident, the child had to undergo six different procedures in three weeks.

Not only did the convenience store not have concrete security bollards installed at its entrance, but large cardboard boxes stacked up against the front of the store blocked the customers’ view, leaving them unaware of the approaching car until it was too late.

Published on: September 10, 2024

Child dies after being hit by car outside of Miami pharmacy

By Leesfield & Partners

A 7-year-old pedestrian who was hit by an elderly driver while walking outside of a Miami pharmacy with her mother has died, officials announced over the weekend.

The girl was walking outside the pharmacy, located at Southwest 32nd Avenue and 22nd Street, on Sept. 2 around 4:30 p.m. when a 92-year-old woman in a Nissan SUV drove up onto the sidewalk and hit her. Police told local news outlets the woman was attempting to park when she hit her accelerator instead of the brakes.

The girl was taken to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital with head injuries. The woman who was driving was previously cited for careless driving and police told local reporters that further charges were possible. The child’s death is still under investigation.

Published on: September 10, 2024

One dead, two others injured after golf cart clams into propane truck over the weekend, cops say

By Leesfield & Partners

A man died after he lost control of his golf cart in Fort Myers and crashed into a propane truck Saturday, injuring his passenger and the driver of the truck, according to reporting from The Miami Herald.

The crash happened around 11 a.m. Saturday on Winkler Road. Officials with Florida Highway Patrol told reporters that the man was driving the golf cart south when he “left the road, overcorrected” and swerved into oncoming traffic, hitting a propane truck traveling in the opposite direction.

The golf cart driver, 44, was pronounced dead at the scene while his passenger, a 30-year-old man, was injured along with the driver of the propane truck. Both had minor injuries, according to local reporting.

Published on: September 5, 2024

Girl hit by Car Over Labor Day Weekend Outside Miami Pharmacy Still in Critical Condition

By Leesfield & Partners

A girl, 7, who was hit by a car while walking with her mother outside of a Miami pharmacy Monday remains hospitalized in critical condition, officials say.

The incident happened around 4 p.m. at a Navarro Pharmacy on SW 32nd Ave. and 22nd St. when a 92-year-old woman in a Nissan SUV allegedly drove onto the sidewalk. Police told local news outlets that the woman was attempting to park her car when she mistakenly stepped on the accelerator.

The woman was cited for driving recklessly and further charges are possible, police told reporters.

Published on: August 30, 2024

Miami-Dade Drivers Don’t Know School Traffic Laws, School Bus Cameras Footage Shows. What You Should Know.

By Leesfield & Partners

Do you have to stop for a school bus in Florida?

In the first two weeks of school, approximately 11,500 Miami-Dade County drivers were cited after footage captured from 950 school district buses caught them disobeying traffic laws.

The cameras were authorized last year to add extra protections for students getting on and off buses during the school year. While laws already exist to ensure drivers who violate these laws are held accountable, the cameras were installed to reinforce the matter. The initiative is a collaboration between the local school district, the Miami-Dade Police Department and BusPatrol, a private company with programs in 17 states that manages the buses and the technology that captures the license plates of cars that illegally pass buses with deployed stop signals.

Published on: August 22, 2024

Miami Gardens crash Wednesday leaves at least 10 people injured. A look at Miami Crash Data.

By Leesfield & Partners

A five-car pileup car crash Wednesday in Miami Gardens left at least 10 people injured, according to police.

The car crash happened Wednesday morning at an intersection near NW 27th Avenue and NW 199th Street. In reporting from NBC 6 South Florida, officials said it was a chain-reaction crash requiring multiple vehicles to be towed from the scene with considerable damage. The 10 people who were sent to the hospital had minor injuries.

Investigators are looking into what caused the crash and additional details were not immediately available Thursday.

Published on: August 13, 2024

Horrific crashes over the weekend in Broward and Downtown Miami resulted in several deaths, injuries

By Leesfield & Partners

Two separate crashes in Downtown Miami and Broward Saturday and Sunday have resulted in at least three deaths and numerous injuries, according to local news outlets.

The first of the two crashes happened Saturday just before 7 a.m. near North Miami Avenue and NE 8th Street. Footage from NBC 6 South Florida showed at least three cars involved in the collision that were mangled and heavily damaged. At least one person was pronounced dead at the scene by first responders and several others were taken to the hospital for treatment.

The second crash occurred at a Broward intersection around 2:30 p.m. Sunday and involved at least three vehicles. The crash happened at the intersection of Northwest 27th Avenue and Sixth Street. Six adults were rushed to local hospitals in conditions that ranged from critical to serious, according to local news outlets. Two of the six adults later died at the hospital.

Published on: August 13, 2024

One injured after car smashes through storefront of boutique in Aventura Thursday

By Leesfield & Partners

A woman has been hospitalized after she accelerated into the front window of a prom dress boutique in Aventura Thursday morning, police say.

The car crash happened just before 10 a.m. Thursday at the JDO Couture Dress Shop on Biscayne Blvd. The store regularly opens at 11 a.m. and no one was inside at the time of the crash. Security footage from a nearby store shows the woman, 63, attempting to park her white, four-door Audi before accelerating, smashing through the shop’s front window.

The woman was taken to Aventura Hospital for treatment. Additional information was not immediately available Friday. This incident remains under investigation.

Published on: August 7, 2024

Nine people dead in devastating Palm Beach County SUV crash Monday night

By Leesfield & Partners

Nine out of the 10 people involved in an SUV crash Sunday have died from their injuries, according to reporting from local news outlets.

The crash happened around 7:30 p.m. Monday on Hatton Highway in Palm Beach County when a 2023 Ford Explorer hit a curve, went off the road into the grass and hit a guardrail before overturning into a canal. Four people were pronounced dead at the scene and six were taken to the hospital where five of them later died. The remaining survivor, a 26-year-old man, remains hospitalized as of Tuesday.

Hatton Highway is a two-lane road that stretches across agricultural fields.

Published on: August 5, 2024

Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles issues statewide alert as part of awareness campaign for child safety

By Leesfield & Partners

Florida public safety partners have banded together to create a “Safe Start to the New School Year with Awareness” campaign ahead of the scheduled return to classes across the state in mid-August, according to a Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles press release.

As parents, educators and students alike prepare for the return to school for the 2024-25 school year, FLHSMV and other agencies have begun a campaign to raise awareness around school bus, school zone and crosswalk safety as well as other initiatives to ensure that children can get to and from school safely. With the help of surveys, citation data and safety tips, these groups aim to shed light on the public safety issue.

In the data released by the FLHSMV, there were 11,224 illegal passes of school buses. The data was gathered in a survey of school bus operators by the Florida Department of Education. This was the same year that the Florida legislature passed House Bill 0657 and Senate Bill 0766 which authorized local jurisdictions to implement and operate school zone speed detection systems and school bus passing infraction detection systems. As of 2021, the penalties for passing a stopped bus on the side where children enter and exit doubled as well as the penalties for failing to stop for a school bus.